8 Days of Happiness: Fanart

[thefourthvine]

As I remind myself endlessly when really cool memes are going around: I don't do memes. Except it occurred to me, when the eight days of happiness meme was going around, that I could in fact do that one. Because fandom brings me happiness! I can talk about one aspect of fandom that makes me happy, and provide a rec or two as an example, and I would be doing a meme. I formulated this plan as soon as I saw the meme and waited patiently for someone to tag me.

And then I remembered that a) most of my friends know I don't do memes, so they weren't going to tag me and b) even if they did, there was a good chance I wouldn't see it, because what with replying to comments and parenting the increasingly mobile and active earthling, I've been sort of sporadic on the friends list reading lately. So I decided to tag myself. Novel concept, yes, but I was not about to let a meme I could do pass me by.

So here I go. Eight days of fannish things that bring me happiness, part one: fanart.

The One with the Doughnut. This Is Where We'll End It, by zoetrope. Due South, Benton Fraser/Ray Kowalski.

This is the work that got me looking at fanart. Because, okay. I had been traumatized by some fanart in the past. (Before I was in fandom, I was on a message board that spent some time making fun of fandom, and while I didn't get into that, it did mean horrific fanart was passed around very gleefully on that board. I had seen the kind of photomanips that make your eyeballs peel. Plus, three words: pregnant elf Blair.) I thought fanart was all the sort of thing that would keep you up at nights thinking of Legolas's horrible twisted neck pasted onto what was, quite clearly, the body of a weightlifter who had a lifetime membership in a tanning salon. (Once, I swear I saw Aragorn's head on Arnold Schwarzenegger's body. The very thought still wakes me up in a cold sweat some nights.)

And, also, I am not a graphics person. I am a word person. And so I just assumed that even if there was good fanart out there - well, there is also good beer out there. Doesn't mean I want to drink it. (I am sorry,
norah. I am hoping you will love me anyway.)

But then - this. Which is a comic book, which I totally get, except it's about Fraser and Ray instead of homoerotic guys in tights manifesting their daddy issues. (Which is not to say that this is not homoerotic. No. Nor is it intended to suggest I have issues with guys in tights. Far from. But who knew comic books could also feature Mounties and cops with experimental hair? Not me! ...And now, of course, I am wondering where all the superhero AUs are in dS. People, please point me to the large number of dS superhero AUs I have tragically missed.)

So here we have a story. And some wonderful art. And the reason I started clicking on links to fanart. All this time later, This Is Where We'll End It can still make me happy - not just because of the story, but because this is where some love began, you know?

Plus, it's pretty. I think that's a definite bonus when it comes to fanart.

(And also, of course, there is Diefenbaker's OTP. That is one of my favorite comic book panels of all TIME. There could be an actual, canon comic book panel with Batman blowing Superman in midair, and I'd be all, "...Well, that's pretty good. But the Dief panel is better!")

The One with the Best Fictional Dog in the Universe. Lirael and the Disreputable Dog, by pentapus. Garth Nix's Old Kingdom series.

And just as we started with the piece of art I fell in love with first, here's the piece of art I fell in love with most recently.

Unsurprisingly, both these works involve dogs. (I'm so much more likely to understand art if dogs are present. I really would have gotten more from Art Appreciation, also known as Art for Philistines and Science Majors, both of which I happened to be, if Van Gogh and Rubens and Picasso had included more dogs in their paintings. (And also if we hadn't had the really weird art professor teach two weeks, including one full class of a guy being crucified on a Volkswagen - seriously, folks, if you ever have to bring the art love to people who think real and brilliant art is the periodic table, don't bring up people nailing themselves to cars. Especially not at 9:30 in the morning, oh my god. I was eating breakfast and suddenly a crazy dude was bleeding on his sunroof.)

See, I have such love for the Disreputable Dog - she is quite honestly one of my favorite characters in all of literature. And this is HER. (Plus Lirael, who I also quite like. It's not her fault that she's overshadowed by the Most Awesome Creature of All Time.) I would kill - maybe only a plant, but still, death would be involved - for an icon of the Dog. Because she is the definition of love.

And all of you people who have no idea who I'm talking about - SHAME ON YOU for not having already read Garth Nix's Old Kingdom series. Strong female characters! Strong female dog characters! The Library of the Clayr, which is up there in the top five of my favorite fictional libraries! And zombies, for you sickos who like that kind of thing. Really. Read these books.

And then come back and look at this picture for a while. Your heart will swell with happiness.

Comments

[cobweb_diamond]

Oh my god, what an amazing idea! There must be superhero Due South AUs out there somewhere, right? It makes so much sense! It would be especially amazing if it was Ray who had the superpowers, but he had some completely lame-ass power like one of the sidekicks from "Dr Horrible".

[thefourthvine]

There are, as it turns out! People over on LJ have recommended some to me.

Oh, true! It'd be awesome if Ray had legitimate superpowers while Fraser was a Batman-style hero - no superpowers, just lots of will and skill. Hmmmm. *ponders*

[thirdblindmouse]

And here I was expecting you to start by recommending The One That's Called Eight Days. ;) *traipses off to read Due South comics OMG!*

[thefourthvine]

*g* I live to defy expectations! And I hope you enjoyed the DUE SOUTH COMIC OMG!

[damned_colonial]

Augh! The first one is very well done, but I can't get past the repeated mis-spelling of "Ottawa". *twitches* Yeah, I have damage.

[thefourthvine]

*pats you soothingly* There, there.

(But if you can, you might want to look at the page with Diefenbaker and his doughnut that I link to directly. That is the true OTP, in my book.)

[dossier]

looking forward to reading zoetrope's comic, thanks for the rec!

[thefourthvine]

I hope you enjoy it, and you're entirely welcome!

[kathmandu]

So we get eight days in a row of you posting? Squeeee!

[thefourthvine]

That's the plan, and I'm halfway there! *crosses fingers* (This is turning out to be HARD. There's a reason I don't post every day!)

And, oh my god, your ICON. Where did you get it? Is it shareable? EEEEEEEEEEEEE!

[laura47.livejournal.com]

things that bring me happiness (partial list): anything you write. :-)

[thefourthvine.livejournal.com]

Awwww. Thank you! *blushes*

[beck-liz.livejournal.com]

pregnant elf Blair

OMG, you had to bring that up. *flees in terror* I'd managed to repress that!

(Once, I swear I saw Aragorn's head on Arnold Schwarzenegger's body. The very thought still wakes me up in a cold sweat some nights.)

*stares* The horror.

Those pieces of art you've linked, however, are very adorable.

[thefourthvine.livejournal.com]

OMG, you had to bring that up. *flees in terror* I'd managed to repress that!

Look, you didn't really want it to stay repressed. It'd be lurking in your hindbrain, causing no end of havoc, messing with your dreams and your subconscious reactions. It's better to have these things brought forward into the light. *nods decisively*

(In other words: if I can't repress it - and I can't, oh god, I've tried - I'm going to try to keep everyone else for repressing it, too.)

*stares* The horror.

It wasn't even one of those subtly horrible uncanny valley manips. No, it was just - Aragorn's head. On a body I swear I last saw when Schwarzenegger's naked photos were making the rounds.

I...I don't think I should think about this anymore.

Those pieces of art you've linked, however, are very adorable.

Aren't they awesome? I'm going to go look at them again, to see if I can overwrite some of the shuddering horror I'm now feeling.

[minervacat.livejournal.com]

Sabriel, Lirael and Abhorsen are some of my most beloved comfort reads. I am always delighted to see that other people have read them, and that ART. *heartsheartshearts*

[thefourthvine.livejournal.com]

OMG yes! Comfort reading! Particularly Lirael, which I go back to again and again. <3 <3 <3 <3 <3!

Totally missing the point, I know

[melodyunity.livejournal.com]

The Library of the Clayr, which is up there in the top five of my favorite fictional libraries!

So what are the other four fictional libraries in your top five?

*is curious*

Re: Totally missing the point, I know

[featherlane.livejournal.com]

Seconded! I don't usually comment, but I also have a list of favorite fictional libraries (I'm not going to even pretend to apologize for this), and now I'm dying to know what yours are. The library in Sandman? The library in "The Silence in the Library" (New Who)? The library in Disney's "Beauty and the Beast"? (The last one is my personal favorite; Belle was the only Disney princess I could ever relate to as a kid, because the best present anyone could get me was also unlimited books! And it was so big, and there were so many books, and secretly, it is still how I picture Heaven.)

[denynothing1.livejournal.com]

That DS comic book is fabulous -- I'd never seen it before. Thank you for the link!

Your description of your journey toward being able to not just look at fan art, but really enjoy it, strikes a familiar chord. *g*

In my first fandom, XF, fan art tended to be... scary. I'll leave it at that. It was SGA fan art that turned me around. There are some beautiful sketches by ileliberte that fill me with glee (and my head with stories).

Team on a mission, taking a break. (http://ileliberte.livejournal.com/26826.html#cutid1) I love what's going on at the edges of the frame almost as much as what's in the center.

John and Teyla post-bantu battle. (http://ileliberte.livejournal.com/10220.html#cutid1) I love imagining what happened before and after this moment, but am just as happy with *just* this moment.

[thefourthvine.livejournal.com]

The dS comic book really is fabulous, isn't it?

And I'm glad I'm not the only person who spent her early fannish years fearing fanart. I've never seen XF art, but I can believe it would be scary, just because it seems like the earlier fandoms were more inclined toward the OMG NO school of art. And even though I was admiring fanart before SGA - thank you, dS - SGA has some of the best, most original, and prettiest fanart I've ever seen. Just, really wow.

I love ileliberte, although I had somehow managed to miss that first one. Thank you for linking me to it!

[macey-muse.livejournal.com]

jfa;fj Lirael was my favourite book for the /longest/ time. Libraries! Bells! Adventure! I had no clue there was any kind of fandom... is it a Yuletide fandom, is there fic? *bounces*

[thefourthvine.livejournal.com]

I love Lirael so very much. And I have no idea if it's a Yuletide fandom in terms of there being actual stories, but I know it gets nominated, because I volunteer to write it every year. I never get assigned it, though.

Hmmm. There has to be FF for it SOMEWHERE, right? (And by "somewhere," I mean "not on ff.net.") *makes note to investigate*

[shayheyred.livejournal.com]

I am not a fan of fanart myself. But I have to recommend The Courtship of Napoleon Solo (http://community.livejournal.com/muncle/585336.html#cutid1) by utopiantrunks, which is not only creative visually, but also has a very sly and charming sense of humor. (that link is to the final part, so scroll up to find parts 1, 2 and 3 before reading 4.)

[thefourthvine.livejournal.com]

Thank you! *clicks link*

(And you're in ANIMANGA fandom. Isn't there a rule that you have to love fanart?)

[gweneiriol.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure HOW I missed that comic but thank you SO MUCH for linking it! :D

[thefourthvine.livejournal.com]

Yay! I am so glad I linked to it, because everyone should see that.

[firesprite1105.livejournal.com]

I managed to not think about PregnantElf!Blair for years until you mentioned it just now.

Thanks, thefourthvine. Thanks a lot!

*goes to check what's left in the likker cabinet*

[thefourthvine.livejournal.com]

Trust me, alcohol will not avail. I have a person on my friends list who has an ICON of pregnant elf Blair. I have tried everything in the world to get that image out of my head. There's no help for it.

*weeps softly*

[luzula]

People, please point me to the large number of dS superhero AUs I have tragically missed.

There was a superpower challenge a while ago at ds_flashfiction. : )

[thefourthvine.livejournal.com]

Thank you! *clicks hopefully*

[http://users.livejournal.com/_bounce_/]

Thanks for the Garth Nix link. It's so cute!

[thefourthvine.livejournal.com]

Isn't it wonderful? I love it so much.

[dzurlady.livejournal.com]

I read 'Lirael and the Disreputable Dog, by pentapus. Garth Nix's Old Kingdom series' and actually made a noise that sounded like 'glick!' I was so happy. I am currently rereading Sabriel, only when I say rereading I mean listening to the audiobook version for the first time. (Over here's it's called the Abhorsen Trilogy (which will be tricky when the new books come out).) It is such a wonderful series, I adore it.

Ah ha, I got so excited I forgot to a) use my Lirael icon and b) say that I love 'This is where we'll end it' too.

Also, if I were ever going to cosplay I would do Sabriel (even though it is not a very easy costume to make and I can't sew). It would be so much fun!

[thefourthvine.livejournal.com]

Well, I knew you'd love it if you hadn't seen it already.

...New books? TELL ME MORE ABOUT THIS.

(And if I did cosplay, I would be Lirael. Although Sabriel is awesome, too.)

[zoetrope.livejournal.com]

Aw, thanks for the rec :)

[thefourthvine.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the introduction to fanart!

dS superpowers

[nessreader.livejournal.com]

You've prob read these but just in case
Dessert First: Want (http://community.livejournal.com/ds_flashfiction/642034.html)

Sageness:
Bravely my diligence.. (http://community.livejournal.com/ds_flashfiction/612479.html)

Spuffyduds: Lift (http://community.livejournal.com/ds_flashfiction/632506.html) (well RayK gets accused of being superhero)

Akamine Chan: In Time (http://akamine-chan.livejournal.com/7170.html)

Re: dS superpowers

[thefourthvine.livejournal.com]

Oh, thank you! I had missed some of these, somehow. *clicks links*

[azdaja-dafema.livejournal.com]

Oh Abhorsen books, the amount of love in the WORLD cannot describe my love for thee.

[thefourthvine.livejournal.com]

They are so awesome it is just astonishing. <3 <3 <3 <3 <3!

[filkferengi]

That's it. I've been hearing about Garth Nix for a while, but if there's a Disreputable Dog, I'm in. [goes off to reserve books at library.]